Customer Reviews:
Women in 17th Century Chinese Society.......2004-01-27
In The Death of Woman Wang, Jonathan A. Spence wrote about a rural place in China named T'an-ch'eng. Using the compilations of The Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the memoirs from a scholar official, and third, the works of an essayist known as P'u Sung-ling, Spence informs us about the ways of the government (or lack thereof), agriculture, circumstances and situations of several characters, and most evident, the portrayal of women in China at the time. Indeed women were considered of lesser value than men, but there is much more to be found in that belief. There were certain elements that made a woman "virtuous and honourable," along with many other things expected from them . To be considered a success in her feminine role, a woman would have to do many things; if she was unable to surpass such challenges, the laws and customs of Chinese society were enacted.
Although the women in 17th century China were considered inferior to men, some women were also thought to be superior to other women. The superior woman, or ideal woman, was she who was "virtuous and honourable." The correct female behaviour included the virtues of "chastity, courage, tenacity, and unquestioning acceptance of the prevailing hierarchy - unto death if necessary" (pg. 100). First there was great emphasis on the loyalty of the wife, before marriage and even after the husband's death. Before a couple was married, the girl would have to live at her future in-law's house, which would give an extra helping hand. On the other hand, should a woman lose her husband, she is encouraged to remarry. Many women were quite loyal to their first, and so refused to remarry. Women would commonly run away, disfigure their face, or even commit suicide in order not to be disloyal to their first husband. Women were expected never to commit adultery, and could be severely punished. Men, however, were not shunned as women were. A wife's body was sacred to her marriage; along with not committing adultery, a woman was also expected to use her intelligence to outwit the "voracious soldiers" and bandits from taking and raping her body (pg. 104). Intelligence was also part of being an honourable woman, such as when a young widow leaves her own son with husband's family to return to her won widowed mother and bring up her brothers (pg. 62).
To be considered prevailing at her feminine role, a Chinese woman was expected to overcome many obstacles. With a deceased husband, the husband's family would encourage the widow to remarry so that they could regain his possessions. Relatives would sometimes "strip her home and family to the bones" (pg. 70). Despite the challenge of greedy relatives, some women, like woman Kao (pg.71) were able to overcome it. Woman Kao certainly struggled, but the harder things were the more upright she was; her son in turn was also brought up principled like her. Raising her children was another challenge by not having the father to bring in not only income, but also to bring up the sons to learn how to run the family's business affairs and to help them pass the examinations. In bringing up her boys, one a step-son, Hsi-liu was a determined wife as well as a determined mother. So that her boys would learn from their mistakes she gave up her reputation. Public opinion was weighed heavy on many women, and the people around Hsi-liu thought of her as cruel. Her boys turned out quite disciplined in the end (pg. 68-70).
Chinese society placed customs and laws to punish women if they were not successful at overcoming such obstacles. Despite not being content in a marriage, women were expected to remain loyal to the husband and to stay with him. Should the wife run away, like Woman Wang, she would automatically be considered a criminal, she "was classified as a fugitive and subject to a punishment of one hundred blows" (pg. 120). A husband was also considered justified if he was to kill his wife or the adulterer if he caught them in the act. If he waited and did not kill them immediately, the husband was not justified. If the wife returned after running away, the husband was to entitled to keep her. In the case of Woman Wang, her husband Jen took her back, but brutally killed her. Because Chinese society placed so much power in the hands of one gender at the expense of another, tragedies like the cruel death of Woman Wang were inevitable. An illegitimate child was greatly shunned, as much as adultery. In the story of the girl Tou and her father's friend Nan, Nan falls for her and swears his eternal faithfulness to her. Since she was a peasant and Nan was offered a rich wife, he took his words back. Tou became pregnant, but Nan denied to her father that it was his. Her father beat her and kicked her out of the house. Betraying her, Nan didn't let her into his house, so she died with her baby at his gate (pg. 107-109). Lastly, should a woman commit suicide because she cannot overcome her challenges, she was believed to be cursed in becoming a ghost, hence being an unpeaceful spirit.
The Death of Woman Wang painted a picture of life in rural China, connected with the death of a woman who ran away from her husband, was returned to him and then was killed by him. The story of the many female characters and Woman Wang serve as an illustration of the place of women in this society, the nature of the law of the time, and the social structure which allowed such things to happen.
Mixed Bag.......2002-04-16
Woman Wang is a piece of work that one can read to get a sense of life for women in China during this time period. However, one should take this book with a grain of salt, since women were not always as powerless as Spence tries to argue. (In fact Woman Wang does display some of her power simply by breaking the "rules"). While factual in presenting more of the well-known facets of Confucian-ruled society and its effects on women, including the legal system, much of this book is speculative and sentimental. It often reads more as historical fiction than a work by a professor of Chinese History at a prestigious university. It does not flow smoothly, pulling the reader jerkily from third person narrative of woman wang to analysis of documents and explanations from a historical/sociological perspective and back to narrative again. For an advanced student of Chinese culture, history, etc., if this book did not get a glance in her/his early years, it will not provide much insight. He has performed better in later works. Still, it remains a neat, compact work for a neophyte, and to this day retains its use in introductory classes on Chinese history.
Imperfect, but Worthwhile.......2000-04-03
A little hard to follow sometimes, and the author could have artfully trimmed it in a couple of places -- after all, it was written for a lay audience, so an excess of historical details can be distracting. Still, it provides a glimpse into a little-known portion of history, and it's comprehensible to a general audience. As I say, imperfect, but worthwhile.
The Death of Woman Wang.......2000-03-01
I really did not care for this book and I thought it hard to follow at times and it was not keeping my attention.
You will not put this down.......1999-04-28
Although some may consider historical texts dull or dry, the ideas and situations DEATH OF WOMAN WANG confronts are timeless and universal. The thought-provoking stories of the Chinese county of T'an-Ch'eng in the 17th Century bring the reader directly into the course of history. The tales of woe, romance, and murder bring this distant setting boldly alive while secretly educating the reader about the details of Chinese governements. This is one book that will change your opinion of history and historical novels.
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The Death of Woman Wang
Manufacturer: Penguin USA (Paper)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 9993183873 |
Customer Reviews:
A powerful book.......1999-01-08
Spence has an impeccable way of juxtaposing fantasy and reality using sources from 17th century local history, personal memoirs, and fiction written by a famous 17th century novelist, Pu Song-ling. He effectively teases the readers' imagination with captivating stories from Pu's novels,just to strike them with the sharp contrast of the harsh reality faced by the nameless, forgotten people in rural China. The result is a touching book rich in humanity and thought provoking insight. The first two chapters may be slow, but they provide pertinent background information for a deeper appreciation of the rest of the book. The dream scene was a powerful literary device, although I have some reservation about its apperance in a book of history.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from American Journalism Review, published by University of Maryland on May 1, 1997. The length of the article is 1119 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: The media image of Kimberly Ernest, fatally beaten in Philadelphia, PA, changed in less than sixteen months from hero to promiscuous woman. Early reports suggested Ernest was assaulted by two men as she stopped them from breaking into a car. Questionable confessions and the lack of physical evidence led to the suspects' acquittal, while evidence that Ernest had multiple sexual partners showed less than heroic behavior. The news media was criticized for presenting a false image of Ernest, but news directors emphasized the difficulty of reporting potentially offensive events.
Citation Details
Title: A rapid journey from victim to vixen. (Philadelphia's media coverage of a fatally-beaten woman)
Author: Amy Wang
Publication:
American Journalism Review (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 1997
Publisher: University of Maryland
Volume: v19
Issue: n4
Page: p12(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
Fort Bowie, in present-day Arizona, was established in 1862 at the site of the famous Battle of Apache Pass, where U.S. troops clashed with Apache chief Cochise and his warriors. The fort's dual purpose was to guard the invaluable water supply at Apache Spring and to control Indians in the developing southwestern region. Douglas C. McChristian's Fort Bowie, Arizona, spans nearly four decades to provide a fascinating account of the many complex events surrounding the small combat post.
In a sweeping narrative, McChristian presents Fort Bowie in fresh contexts of national expansion and regional development, weaving in threads of early exploration, transcontinental railroad surveys, the overland mail, mining, ranching, and the conflict with the Apaches.
Customer Reviews:
Fort Bowie, Arizona.......2006-02-12
Anyone who has ever visited the Fort Bowie National Historic Site in southeast Arizona knows what a unique experience that is (first of all, you have to hike in to the fort ruins a mile-and-a-half from a small parking area off a dirt road). The feeling at the site of being transported back in time is profound. Douglas McChristian has given us a thorough history of the fort and its role in the affairs of Arizona during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Before Fort Bowie was constructed in 1862, there was a Butterfield Stage station located near the site (its ruins are still visible). Apache raids on local ranches in the area brought a military response in 1861, which was unsuccessful in dispelling hostilities. With the advent of the Civil War, the importance of Apache Pass as a viaduct to the California gold fields for the Confederates became a major concern. Union volunteer cavalry under Gen James H. Carleton rode to Apache Pass, where on July 15-16, 1862, they fought a battle with several hundred Apaches at the springs near the pass. After the Indians were finally driven off, Carleton realized the pass needed to be fortified, and Fort Bowie was soon under construction.
The first Fort Bowie was in existence from 1862 to 1868 and consisted mainly of tents inside a stone breastwork. After the Civil War, the US Army (as opposed to state units) took over and a new fort was begun about a quarter-mile to the east. Much more substantial, it contained adobe buildings and included barracks, officers' quarters, storehouses, and a hospital. By the time the fort was abandoned in 1894, 38 buildings had been constructed (the ruins of these buildings is the chief attraction for a visitor today).
A tentative peace was established with the Apaches in 1872 when Cochise agreed to occupy a reservation that included their traditional homeland. There was restlessness on the reservation, however, and some bands (most famously, one led by Geronimo) left the reservation and wandered between the US and Mexico, escaping capture for years. Finally, in 1886, Geronimo and his band were caught and sent to Florida. Fort Bowie hung on for another eight years, but with the Indian wars at an end, the fort served little purpose. On October 17, 1894, the last troops marched out of the fort for other posts.
McChristian's account of life at the fort is fully detailed. Fort Bowie was an isolated post, and life there could be pretty lonely (drinking was a big problem). Actual encounters with the Indians were rare, though scouting expeditions were never-ending. The author lists all the commanding officers at the fort (the list is long and many officers stayed for only a month or two) and all the units stationed there (the Sixth US Cavalry was there the longest: 1875-85). His approach is scholarly (footnotes are numerous and many annotated), but it's not written for just other scholars. There are also many photographs. Fort Bowie was an important military post in the West, and this book relates its story well. Highly recommended.
Amazon.com
"The anti-profiling crusade thrives on an ignorance of policing and a willful blindness to the demographics of crime," writes Heather Mac Donald in this powerful and persuasive examination of racial profiling. Noting that crime has dropped in urban areas over the past decade, she writes that "The last ten years should have been a time of triumph for law enforcement, not an occasion for frenzied cop-bashing." Yet an anti-police stance has pervaded the media in recent years, particularly in The New York Times, she says. This bias, combined with suffocating federal regulations, brought about by both the Clinton and the Bush Justice Departments, threaten to reverse the progress made. It also causes unnecessary friction between police and the public, makes neighborhoods less safe, and even dissuades officers from fighting crime aggressively for fear of being labeled a racist. In instances where the police were clearly in the wrong--most notably the much-publicized and tragic Amadou Diallo shooting--Mac Donald posits that these are isolated cases of poor judgment and failure to follow procedure rather than evidence of systemic racism.
Since much of the profiling issue revolves around highway patrolling, Mac Donald looks closely at the misleading statistics that have been used to back up such practices as tabulating the race of drivers pulled over by the police. Mac Donald punches so many holes in the statistics that it's difficult not to concur with her. She further attacks the "collective fairy tale that all groups commit drug crimes at equal rates," arguing that the police are simply going to where the crime is, not willfully picking on one group while ignoring others. She also does extensive field work: interviewing cops around the country, particularly black officers who find the race-bias argument specious; reporting from urban neighborhoods; and witnessing firsthand how the New York Police Department trains its rookie officers. She also points out that local police are "the first line of defense against terrorism" and makes a particularly compelling argument that racial-profiling should be used as a tool in combating such threats. Overall, this forceful book is sure to arouse controversy--which is exactly the point. --Shawn Carkonen
Book Description
Brilliant journalist Heather Mac Donald investigates the workings of the police, the controversy over racial profiling, and the anti-profiling lobby's harmful effects on black Americans.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent analysis of the political correctness in law enforcement.......2007-09-20
Let me first state that I was a prior law enforcement officer on the state and Federal Level. With that in mind, Ms. MacDonald highlights some of the myths surrounding law enforcement and policing policies. I have experienced the political backlash from arresting prominent members of the community and the political workings behind the scenes to undermine and minimize the department's policing efforts. Law Enforcement is at times boring, thankless, an occasionly rewarding. I have witnessed firsthand the comments and bias placed on me when I was in uniform. I never pulled over a vehicle because of the ethnic profile of the driver. I was accused of it constantly, questioned by command (example: why have you pulled over # of hispanics this month? The command failed to mention that the jurisdiction was approximately 75% hispanic...a simple law of averages here....but I digress)
Ms. MacDonald highlights some of the recent police cases involving "profiling", especially the high profile case in New Jersey. She disects all of the politically correct charged placed against the police involved. This book is for someone with an open mind. Those that take the network news as gospel need not apply. In order to mend the very real racial divide in our culture, we have to honestly and objectfully look at how police are treated and characterized in the media. Like any large organization, there are bad officers. The majority of officers are hard working, non biased, and professional.
Denies basic human Nature.......2007-08-01
I've always been careful not to believe propaganda from the left or the right. I like to think of myself as a "self thinker" and have always held dear, the idea of personal responsibility. My education told me that speeders get stopped and law abiding citizens have nothing to fear from police officers and smart citizens have nothing to fear from criminals.
The culture at my job is one where you have two general types of person. Car guys, who built performance racers as teens and watch NASCAR, and engineer guys who built computers and programming code as teens. I'm from the latter group. However, I get stopped far more often than my white co-workers, even the ones who drive more reckless than me and are hotrodders.
As a matter of fact the last time I was stopped I was frisked handcuffed pushed around and shouted non racial but "heated" names, while my car was being ransacked by police officers with drawn guns. All of this was done before the first question or statement came out of the police officer's mouth. I wasn't speeding, blasting Rap music, wearing my hat backwards, slouching in my seat, drinking while driving, or driving with a White girl in my car (most of which isn't illegal anyway). I was wearing my seatbelt, sitting at a red light wearing a close cropped haircut with clean shaven face. I wore a conservative dark suit and was in a clean moderately upscale car with no extra rims or adornments. I work for one of the "Big Three" auto companies and was driving a car with Manuf. plates which, since I was less than a mile from the Tech center, was very common. They took my wallet out of my pocket and began tossing the contents on the hood of the car while looking for my license, insurance cert. and registration. As a photo of my wife and daughter flipped off the car and landed on the wet pavement, one of the cops asked "is dem yo hoes?" "dat yo shorty?" in a poor attempt at "Ebonics". The other cops laughed.
One of the officers seemed genuinely angry that I had a passport. I vaguely remember him asking me why a vacation in Colorado "wasn't good enough for me" or something to that effect. After the third cop car pulled up and the contents of my briefcase, wallet and car console were splayed about on top and around the car on a wet windy night, they let me go. No ticket, no help with my belongings, no "Sorry dude, wrong guy" Not even a condescending "Have a nice day" They didn't even check my trunk but did empty my briefcase. At no time during this ordeal did I show anger or raise my voice to these people yet they still acted like savages.
Is it even possible that all of the instances that we have heard about and the thousands that we haven't are simply a vast attempt to fool stupid black people into voting a certain way, to feed animosity against the police, or a method by which to make whites feel guilty? It is actually possible that some of these people are telling the truth about profiling.
If it is human nature to fear that which you've been given reason -irrational or not- to fear whether you're a cop or not, then profiling is to be expected, even among those who we would expect to know better. This would be the same even if this country was majority Black/ minority White and it was White males complaining about profiling. The presence of Jesse Jackson doesn't negate the truth and you don't get a free pass to ignorance that quickly. The premise of this book denies basic human nature and placates those who'd rather keep heads in sand.
Must read for any street officer !.......2007-05-07
Great book looks at racial profiling from an officers perspective as well as from the non-criminal community eyes.
Most revealing book Ive read in ages.......2006-09-09
Heather does a great job of sifting through the media drama and finding out what the real issues are. I have a completely different view of this issue after reading this book.
How credible could she be?.......2005-12-17
Heather MacDonald needs to focus less on the argument that Blacks in general {and others} as a whole are anti-police and anit-profiling. Perhaps crime has gone down simply due to improved administration, rather than trying to argue police aren't racist and "certain people" are hurting their communities by going against the police. Become a victim of racial profiling first, as I have as a young female, and then we'll talk about who or what's credible or not.
While it may be true that in many urban neighborhoods, crime rates have gone down because police activity has gone up, and that the police benefit the black neighborhoods more so than white neighborhoods...Like I said before, the system plainly improved.
The whites have always had the police by their side. Hypothetically speaking if in the past the police helped whites 65% of the time and 20 years later the numbers are 75%. But in the black neighborhood, the police helped 45% of the time and 20 years later 80% of the time; the 10% increase with whites and the 35% increase in the black neighborhood, well OF COURSE the police statistically benefit the blacks more with such a jump in numbers like THAT. The police haven't always given a damn about the citizens of the black neighborhoods they work in. Of course that's a dramatic jump and clearly it helps in a positive way and I commend them for that, but could they do better. They could do Much better.
And the issue regarding drugs and that the police "go where the crime is" in reference to urban areas......white neighborhoods have some of the most overlooked drug habits in America. Additionally, regarding income status, which means MONEY,how do these drugs get in America to begin with? It's not the urban cities. MacDonald "spent time in urban areas" researching, but what about the doped up and high-strung suburbs and rural areas, moms and teens alike. Her sources NEED TO BE MORE DIVERSE and I don't just mean race.
Some points MacDonald makes are important but her reasoning need more credibly focused.
She's alum from Yale and Cambride, and lives in a posh area of NYC, and I'm supposed to go to her on issues of racism???????????????????
At least it's an honest effort.
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The Politics of the Unpolitical: German Writers and the Problem of Power, 1770-1871
Gordon A. Craig
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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Theodor Fontane: Literature and History in the Bismarck Reich
ASIN: 0195094999 |
Book Description
In a book written during the First World War, Thomas Mann wrote that political activity was alien to the German spirit and that "in fact the political element was absent from the German concept of education." The Politics of the Unpolitical demonstrates the essential unreliability of this generalization by focusing on the political activity of ten of Germany's most widely respected writers in the period from the French Revolution to the founding of the Bismarck Reich in 1871. Gordon A. Craig's book shows how Goethe, Schiller, Heinrich von Kleist, Wilhelm von Humboldt, Holderlin, and Heine were fascinated by the political issues of their day and reacted either by entering public service or threw themselves into efforts to change society for the better. In his study of ten of Germany's most important intellectuals Craig, focuses on their political views and activities and argues that they were not, in fact, representatives of the genre of the "unpolitical German."
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Books Index
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